Delivery

eMeasurement Services' unique features make the Internet a secure way to deliver high-stakes tests:

• Prevents password violation.
  
  
• Provides complete proctor control over the testing environment.
  
  
• Disables functions such as print, e-mail, Web browsing, cut-and-paste, and desktop applications like calculators and dictionaries.
  
  
• Stores the test on a server, rather than on the hard disk or browser cache. When a student exits the test, no test questions or answers are left on the workstation computer.
  
  
• The "next" and "previous" buttons students use to navigate within a test are placed underneath all options, ensuring that the student scrolls through all possible choices before moving to the next question.
  
  
• The test appearance does not depend on screen resolution, so if a test involves reading long passages, students using lower-resolution screens are not disadvantaged by having to do more scrolling than students using higher-resolution screens.

The Delivery module consists of the following components:

Test Session Management – A test session is a structure that allows administration of a proctored test to a group of students. Proctors are responsible for creating test sessions, assigning students to a test session, and starting and stopping a test session. School administrators, teachers, or other designated personnel can perform proctoring functions. Test sessions provide controls for starting and stopping a group of student test authorizations. Test sessions also provide the ability to release sections within a test for the group of students.

The user can create sessions and assign students to a session. The user interface allows the starting, stopping, suspending, resuming, and section release functions to be performed on a particular session. The user interface also allows the proctor to authorize a test restart if an individual student intentionally or unintentionally terminates the test delivery.

Test Authorization Management – Manage individual student test authorizations. All test authorizations are assigned to a particular testing program. The student test authorization provides a unique identification for each test taker. Proctors print authorization letters for distribution to the students.

Proctors can create, modify, or remove a test authorization. In addition, the module supports the ability to reset passwords in the event of a lockout due to excessive password guessing.

Test Delivery – Delivers a specific test form to a specific student and collects the responses to the items. The delivery system supports several types of tests, including sequential, adaptive, and random test item presentation.

After successful log-on to the delivery site, the DELIVERY component maintains the content security as the test is being administered to the student. Basic features prevent students from using cut and paste on items. More advanced features provide control over the desktop to prevent access to other applications or Web surfing during the test delivery. In addition, all items are loaded into client memory so that they are not cached to the hard drive on the client PC by the browsers. When the test delivery is complete, no test content is left on the PC.

eMeasurement Services accommodates those times when the test must be administered in a proctored setting. In this situation, the student's user ID and password alone are not sufficient to access the test. The test proctor must "claim" students for a particular test session and release and terminate the student authorizations at the beginning and end of the test session. eMeasurement Services uses a double-authentication process for these testing situations:

• Proctors have a user ID and password. This is the first part of a double authentication system. The Proctor must enter a user ID and password before the system can be accessed.
  

• Students have a user ID and password. This is the second part of the double-authentication system. Students can view only their own examinations.

The test delivery display hides the standard toolbars, so that print and save functions, as well as spell check and the thesaurus, are not accessible. Therefore, test items and the tests can not be kept in the classroom or school once the administration is complete. Another feature of eMeasurement Services’ allows the tracking of student response patterns, in much the same way that erasure analyses are conducted for paper-and-pencil scannable documents. If a pattern of response changes is detected within a group of students, further investigation can be undertaken to determine if there is a reason for the pattern.

The presentation of the items is exactly as shown on a paper test. In the Delivery component, one item at a time is displayed to the student. One advantage of single item display is the restart feature that eMeasurement Service’ provides. In the event of an Internet interruption, the student can be shown the item that was last successfully submitted, because work is saved on an individual item basis rather than by test basis.

The DELIVERY module supports multiple choice, multiple selection (choose all that apply), true / false, short response (fill in the blank), and long response (essay) item types. Items can have one or more supporting stimuli that can be displayed with the item or accessed with a navigation control, such as a button. This is very useful for reading tests where both the reading passage and question can be presented simultaneously to the student. In addition, students can use computer-based images of rulers, protractors, or grids to measure lines or graphics displayed in test items.

The DELIVERY module can provide additional information about an item to the student on request. This is very useful for mathematics tests, where supporting equations can be accessed and dismissed so that they do not occupy any of the screen display with the question itself. The DELIVERY module supports all types of mathematics equations, fractions, symbols, charts, and graphics.

Electronic tests can be automatically separated into sections. Sections can be timed separately as needed. Sections also allow the use of calculators or other external aids in one section and not in another. Once the section where calculators are allowed is completed, the student is not allowed to access that section again.

The DELIVERY module allows students to review and update their item responses at any time during the test. Students can navigate both forward and backward to review their responses within each section. In addition, an item review screen can be presented to the student at the completion of a section or test. This screen highlights items that were skipped or items that were marked for review. The mark for review feature allows students to identify items in the test that they would like to be able to return to quickly at the end of the section or test.

Although a mouse is required for navigation, the test delivery engine supports keystroke entry for selection of a response. For example, if a multiple choice question offers A, B, and C options, pressing the A key on the keyboard will select option A as the response.

Test Form Management - Responsible for converting a test definition generated from the Authoring system into a format that can be delivered and will associate a test and test form to a testing program. Also, responsible for tracking attributes about a test form including, but not limited to, the security requirements of the test form. This component must also track the expiration date of the test form and remove it from the delivery system when the test expires. Currently, NCS Pearson staff is responsible for all of these functions. In the future, customers will have control over this feature.